FOUR

Beth got chills down her spine just thinking about how real the images had gotten lately. She told the boy about the old man and the maggots she had seen in her room just before he’d arrived at her door. But there had been more instances.

“A few days ago the walls seemed to melt. As the plaster and bricks dribbled down on the floor they started to light up, suddenly on fire. They surrounded me, closing me in. I screamed and the fire was gone, the walls back to normal. A bit longer ago I saw something crawl on the ceiling. It was a thin woman with eight legs, sticking out a forked tongue. Suddenly that creature was gone again. But they were there, in front of my eyes, not just in my mind. I feel like I am truly, slowly going crazy.”

“Sounds like some sort of bad acid trip or something,” the boy said. He’d been on a few of them, hoping to unlock the part of his brain that withheld him from feeling fear. It hadn’t done that, but had given him some interesting visions.

“I guess. I’ve never used any drugs, though. So it isn’t that. It’s like Alastor is messing with my head or something. Oh, you must think I’m just totally batshit crazy.”

“I’ve seen a few strange things during my travels, don’t worry about that. I don’t think you’re crazy,” the boy said.

“Well, I just don’t know how long I will be able to take this. The images are getting more real every day and…” That’s when she smelled the sulfur. The smell was so strong she felt nauseous.

“What’s wrong?” the boy asked her.

“Don’t you smell it? The stink?”

The boy sniffed. “No, I don’t think so.”

Behind the boy a grey shape appeared, like it had been sitting down behind the chair all of the time. It rose. It looked like a demon, sinewy and veined grey arms, large ears, glowing red eyes. It had a black tongue that flicked in and out of a mouth full of fangs. It stroked the boy’s hair with a clawed hand.

The boy asked Beth, “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

She pointed a finger at what she saw, trying to warn the boy. No words left her mouth.

The boy scratched his head, like something had bothered him there. Was he able to feel the demon, just not see it?

The demon scratched the boy’s cheek, drawing blood. The blood dribbled down his cheek. He jumped up, feeling the pain obviously. As he jumped up, the chair he had been sitting in fell down to the floor and the demon was gone as was the smell of sulfur.

“What the hell was that?” the boy said. He put a finger against his cheek. He looked at it, seeing the blood. “That hurt.”

“What the hell is right. It was some kind of demon and it was right behind you. It scratched you,” Beth said.

“Freaky,” the boy said. “Pretty interesting too. Sounds like your visions are indeed becoming real. I think we should maybe see if we can put a stop to it.”

“My first thought would have been to get myself institutionalized but as how it looks like that thing was indeed real that might not be the way to end this,” Beth said.

“If we’re dealing with demons, maybe we should ask some help from someone who knows more about them,” the boy said. “Before things get worse. Now it was just a scratch. Next time this demon might want to tear of my head. I can’t die before I have fulfilled my journey and have felt fear for the first time.”

Beth couldn’t believe the boy hadn’t felt any fear after what had happened there. Her own heart was racing.